SpeedDate.com surpasses 1M mobile downloads

SpeedDate.com announced it has surpassed one million iPhone and iPod touch downloads.

The application is now ranked among the top 50 iPhone applications, which solidifies its place in the mobile dating marketplace. This signals a consumer shift in how singles meet online.

“We promoted the app via email to our existing user base, and employ a rather unique pulse mobile ad-buying strategy that has allowed us to gain transaction in a cost-effective manner,” said Jason Jacobi, vice president of marketing for SpeedDate.com, San Francisco.

Love at first textSpeedDate.com aims to make online dating to be as mobile and versatile as its users’ lifestyles.

“Our strategy isn’t to put mobile first, just yet,” Mr. Jacobi said. “It’s to provide singles with the opportunity to be reached when they’re not in front of the computer.

“We find that the No. 1 complaint in online dating is that ‘there isn’t anyone online for me to talk to right now.’” he said. “A mobile platform inherently attempts to solve this dilemma.”

Here is a screen grab of a single’s profile:

The application lets singles meet each other through three-minute online speed dates from the comfort of home.

“While we do have about 100 apps for various countries, cities and demographic mixes across the world, the App Store’s design only benefits one single app,” Mr. Jacobi said.

With SpeedDate.com, users can immediately determine if they have chemistry before taking time to meet the person.

“We don’t currently serve any third-party ads on our site,” Mr. Jacobi said. “The site is in fact a subscription model, much like all U.S.-based online dating services.”

Users who download the free SpeedDate Mobile application are able to finger-swipe through various profiles and choose singles they would like to meet and then can start a conversation with them via email or sending a flirtatious “wink” that lets a person know another single is interested in them.

Here is a screen grab of the wink application:

“We have over 10 million singles who have used our Web site in the past two years and tapping into that as a resource for communicating our product offerings, as well as effective marketing and acquisition through mobile as a channel, allow us to see the results we have achieved thus far,” Mr. Jacobi said.

Advanced filters narrow searches based on the various criteria such as age, interests and location, while the tagging feature ensures all favorite member profiles are stored and easily accessible.

“It’s no secret, people like to look,” Mr. Jacobi said. “Online dating has always had a certain voyeuristic approach to the consumers who dabble in the various sites and now what the mobile platform allows is the ultimate in privacy.

“No more stationary PC or laptop to browse for the proverbial weekend date,” he said. “Now you’re mobile, on the go.

“And privacy is key - anything that users tend to tell their closest friends about, but don’t want to spread around the work place water cooler, is fair game in mobile.”